Page 33 of My Demanding Duke

"Where shall we go, your Grace?" Josie asked, the title still sounding a tad silly to Anna’s ear.

"Green Park, I think," Anna replied, knowing it wasn’t fashionable like Hyde Park where the ton paraded. "It's quieter there.”

“Apart from the cattle,” Josie grumbled, “I was going to encourage you to wear your new boots, but I shan’t now. It’s I who’d have to clean ‘em if you trod in a pile of dung, your Grace.”

Anna hid a smile at her mulish tone—she far preferred Josie cynical than reverent.

She hastily gulped the tea Josie had brought while the lady’s maid went to tell the footmen to ready a carriage. Within a quarter of an hour, they were seated inside a splendidbarouche, its top down so that they could appreciate the warm Spring morning.

“I could get used to this,” Josie confided as the vehicle turned from Pall Mall onto Malborough Street. “Much less bumpy than the gig up home.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Anna replied, compelled for some reason to defend the creaky old thing.

“You’re not so homesick that you’ve forgotten having to pick splinters from your derrière, are you?” Josie laughed.

“I suppose this is more luxurious,” Anna conceded, with a nod to the leather seats, the gleaming wood, and the liveried footman and driver seated at the front.

“Change can be difficult, even when it’s change for the better,” Josie advised, awkwardly patting Anna’s hand. “And, I suppose, you’re feeling out of sorts with your father still not home.”

Anna stilled; in all the time since she had said “I do” to the duke, she had not given her father a second thought. A wave of guilt swept over her which she could not fight despite the anger she still felt toward him. What kind of daughter was she, to have not even enquired of his whereabouts?

“He’ll turn up, he always does,” Josie assured her, reading her thoughts.

Anna longed to question her further, but she was conscious of the driver and the footman seated nearby. Gossip was like currency amongst servants and Anna did not wish to provide them with any tales to carry home.

A few minutes later, the carriage pulled to a halt, just inside The Wren Gate entrance to the park. Anna immediately felt a sense of relief at the sight of the open green fields before her. Finally, a part of London that felt a little like home.

To their right lay The Queen’s Walk, a tree-lined path which ran the eastern edge of the park. The perfect place for a private chat, she thought with satisfaction.

"We shall walk from here," Anna announced, causing the footman to stare back at her with barely concealed horror.

"If I may say, your Grace, I don't believe that His Grace would approve of you walking unescorted—"

"I am not unescorted," Anna cut him off, gesturing to Josie. "I have Josie."

“Your Grace," the driver interjected now, his tone pleading. "I do not believe that His Grace would consider a lady's maid to be proper protection. Perhaps we might drive you through the park instead?"

Anna felt a flare of irritation at her absent husband’s seemingly endless ability to dictate her life choices. Even while tucked away in The House of Lords, he had the power to control her.

"I wish to walk,” she sniffed, reminding herself that she was now a duchess. “We will return within the hour."

Before either man could protest further, Anna had descended from the carriage, Josie scrambling after her.

"His Grace will be most displeased," the footman muttered, just loud enough for Anna to hear.

"Then His Grace may express his displeasure to me directly," she replied, lifting her chin. "Come, Josie."

As they walked away from the carriage and onto the graveled path known as the Queen's Walk, Josie cast nervous glances over her shoulder. "Are you certain this is wise, Your Grace? They’ll inform His Grace of this, I don’t think he’ll be best pleased."

"I am not a prisoner," Anna replied with a shrug, “He cannot send me to Newgate for taking a walk, Josie. Now, tell me everything you know about Papa.”

“I’ve told you the most of it,” it was Josie’s turn to shrug, “I done asked the underbutler Mr Reeves why James and Sarah had not yet arrived, and he said that it was because Lord Mosley hadn’t yet returned to the house on Berkley Square. That was the deal, remember? They were to stay there to help your father pack up.”

They walked in silence for a few moments, as Anna fretted, before turning onto a smaller path that led toward the center of the park.

“Is the duke aware that he was still missing?” Anna questioned, wondering why Falconbridge had not mentioned this to her—he’d had plenty of opportunities.

“Lawks if you think that I know what the duke knows,” Josie chuckled. “I know my place, your Grace, and it’s not as a confidant of the duke’s.”

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